Secrets of the Job Hunt

Sunday, July 26, 2009

According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate rose 0.1 percent in June from May’s 9.4 percent to 9.5 percent. Considering the increase in joblessness across the country, it makes sense that there were fewer job listings advertised online during the month.

The Monster Employment Index, put out by job search giant Monster.com, dropped one percentage point in June. This means that there was a small decline in the number of jobs online last month. According to a recent press release from Monster, this loss of advertised positions was expected.

Job markets across the country have seasonal trends. On average, online recruitment slows during the month of June. Businesses that increase their staff during the summer months, such as employers in the leisure and hospitality industry, have already completed the majority of their hiring. Add to this the fact that places like school districts have not begun to hire new employees and you have a large part of the reason hiring is slower during the month of June.

According to Monster Worldwide, the year-over-year decline in jobs listed online that has been noted since the onset of the nationally experienced recession is showing some signs of slowing. Currently, the Index is down 28 percent, which is a note-worthy improvement from the rate of decline experienced in April and May.

“While U.S. online job availability has remained largely flat since January, the annual pace improved during the second quarter, suggesting some expansion in underlying employer demand for workers,” said senior vice president and chief knowledge officer at Monster Worldwide Jesse Harriott in the company’s recent report. “Still, current levels of online job vacancies are at their lowest since January 2005, illustrating the extent to which hiring has slowed during this recession.”

Monster fond that online job availability increased in 8 of the 20 industry sectors monitored by the Index and 12 of the 23 occupational categories during the month of June. The largest increase in jobs listed online occurred in the real estate, rental and leasing area of employment. Representatives from Monster believe this shows signs that the industry is beginning to stabilize.

According to the report, the increased data in this area of employment occurred around the same time as the National Association of Realtors put out improved statistics on residential sales. This shows that the housing sector might be registering an increase in activity.

As far as occupations monitored by Monster go, the legal and protective services showed the greatest increase in jobs online. During the same period, Monster noted ease in demand for technically skilled positions.

According to Monster, the states with the largest of number of jobs online in relation to their populations were: 1.) Alaska 2.) Maryland 3.) Vermont 4.) Delaware 5.) Rhode Island 6.) Montana 7.) Virginia 8.) Connecticut 9.) Massachusetts and 10.) Wyoming.